This course provides an introduction to the law of contracts. The course examines the structure and doctrines of the law of contracts. Topics considered may include: the institutions of contract law; the formation of contracts; enforcement of promises; contracts and third parties; protection of weaker parties; misrepresentation; contractual terms; breach of contract; exclusion clauses; and contractual remedies. In this course, students will learn to do the following:
- Describe the main sources for the law of contracts, including common law, equity, and legislation;
- Describe and explain the overall structure of the law of contracts;
- Understand and articulate the basic rules, principles, and doctrines of contract law, and their underlying purpose, rationales, and policies, and apply them to new fact situations;
- Understand and employ the basic conventions and methods of legal argumentation, analysis, and decision-making in the common law system, as well as familiarity with basic legal language, structures, and concepts.
Depending on the instructor’s expertise and pedagogical design, students may learn to do some or all of the following:
- Understand various theoretical, critical, moral, ethical, and social justice perspectives concerning the function or purposes or deficiencies of contract law in modern society;
- Understand the role of contract law in social and economic relations, including its contribution to the economic fabric and organization of Canada;
- Critically evaluate the effectiveness of contract law in achieving various policy objectives;
- Critically evaluate the rules, principles, doctrines, and policies of contract law, and related judicial decision-making, with a view to suggesting possible reforms to the law or other solutions to contract law problems; and
- Examine the role of the solicitor in contract law, for example, in the development of standard language in common commercial situations.